John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) was a pastor among the Plymouth Brethren.  He was the first to majorly develop the eschatological system of Dispensationalism (more {here}), whose primary emphasis (one of two) is a distinction between Israel and the church.  In a recent Bibliotheca Sacra article, writer Paul Wilkinson shares some interesting things about him:

The immediately following account is of Darby visiting a deathly-ill boy and sharing the Gospel with him:

“…’After upwards of an hour’s toilsome walking…over steep hills…[and]…heavy marshes,’ Darby arrived at a peasant’s cottage and found the young lad with his mother, lying on a bed of straw ‘in a state of extreme suffering and exhaustion.’  The boy stared at Darby ‘like a frightened animal.’  Darby was immediately ’struck with dismay and almost despair,’ not knowing how to reach this lost soul who was close to death, illiterate, and ‘altogether ignorant of the way of salvation.’  Darby records how he ‘raised up’ his heart in prayer, asking the Lord to direct him ‘in this most difficult and trying position’ and to open to him ‘by His Spirit of wisdom a way to set forth the glad tidings of salvation so as to be understood by this poor benighted wanderer.’  As Darby enquired about his condition, the boy told him how he had fallen ill after searching the mountains in inclement weather for one of his father’s sheep, which had gone astray.  Having found the distressed animal, the boy, whose lungs had been pierced by ‘the cold mountain blast,’ lifted it on his shoulders and carried it home, much to the delight of his father.  As the boy declared, ‘I did my best to save the sheep.’  The Lord had provided ‘this happy opening’ for Darby, who proceeded to use the story to tell him the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7). ‘The Lord mercifully opened not only his understanding, but his heart also, to receive the things spoken.  He himself was the lost sheep, Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd,  who was sent by the Father to seek for him….My poor sick lad seemed to drink it all in.  He received it all; he understood it all.  I never saw a clearer proof of the power of the divine Spirit to apply the Word of God….He accepted Christ as his Savior [and] earnestly prayed to be carried home like the lost sheep in the heavenly Shepherd’s arms.  He died humbly, peacefully, almost exulting, with the name of Jesus, my Savior and my Shepherd, the last upon his lips.’”

Wilkinson with Philip Hallie in Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed and David Brog in Standing with Israel: Why Christians Support the Jewish State points out  that Darby’s influence among some villagers in the French village Le Chambon led these villagers to harbor some 5,000 Jews during the Holocaust.  They loved the Jews, and they were willing to risk their own lives to help them.  One account in this village includes a German Jewish lady visiting a farm of some Darby followers.  When the Jewess asked to buy some eggs, the farmer’s wife asked her if she was Jewish.  She affirmed that, only to have the farmer’s wife summon the whole family down to where the two women were standing.  The Jewess, who had become very nervous,  was completely taken aback when the farmer’s wife gladly showed her family this representative of the Chosen People.  They loved the Jews, and this love came through John Darby’s influence.  The main organizer of this effort to save the Jews in Le Chambon was Andre Trocme, who was posthumously honored as a Righteous Among the Nations in 1972 by Yad VaShem (Israel’s Holocaust memorial museum).

Quotes by Darby:

Darby loved the church all his life, but “there was, however, another flock that Darby took into his heart,  a flock despised, neglected, and rejected not only by the world, but by many in the church.”  This was, of course, the Jews.

“Israel is always the people of God [and] cannot cease to be the people of God.”

“The Jews are the habitual object of the thoughts of God; for, although He cannot recognize them for the moment, as being under His chastening hand, they are nevertheless still His people…”

Material taken from Wilkinson, Paul R. “John Nelson Darby and His Views on Israel.” Bibliotheca Sacra 166, no. 661 (January-March 2009): 84-99.

Paul has written a book with Thomas Ice on John Darby’s influence in supporting the Jews and Zionism: Wilkinson, Paul and Thomas Ice. For Zion’s Sake: Christian Zionism and the Role of John Nelson Darby. Wipf and Stock, 2007. {here}

Today, Tuesday, April 21, is Yom HaShoah–Holocaust Memorial Day. It is a very sobering day as people around the world, particularly those in Israel, pause to remember the murderous atrocities committed by Hitler and his regime against the Jews and other undesirables. Some 6,000,000 Jews were killed during the years of World War II, and millions of others were scarred for life.

I have written a lengthy post elsewhere on how you and I can today remember those who died in the Holocaust.  Please read it {here}, and take time out of your busy day to honor those who perished.

Starting at sunset this evening [Wed April 8] is Pessach (Passover).  It is the very special holiday that commemorates the Israelites being supernaturally delivered from the house of bondage as slaves in Egypt by God.

You recall the story in Exodus 12.  The Israelites were warned of a final plague against Egypt, one that would finally break Pharaoh’s hardened heart.  The Israelites gathered a lamb for each family, sacrificed it, and put its blood on the doorposts of their home.  That night, the Destroying Angel went throughout Egypt and struck down all the firstborn males, but He passed over the homes with blood on the doorposts.  From that point onward, all the firstborn males of Israel belonged to the Lord, because He had spared the Israelites’ firstborn, thus all Israelite firstborn males must be redeemed (bought back) [Exodus 13].

Passover was one of the appointed feasts, the pilgrimage feasts, which all men were required to visit Jerusalem yearly to observe (Leviticus 23:4-8).  The feast began the Feast of Unleavened Bread which lasted another 7 days, during which time there could be no leaven in the house.

Several noteworthy celebrations in Scripture of Pessach include Numbers 9 with Moses, Joshua 5:10-11 when Joshua entered the Promised Land, 2 Kings 23:21-23 with Josiah, 2 Chronicles 30 with Hezekiah, and Ezra 6:19-22 with Ezra and the exiles.

According to Deuteronomy 16:1-8, a sacrifice from the flocks or herds was to be offered at sunset.  The meal was to be eaten in haste, to remember the Exodus from Egypt.  The animals was only to be sacrificed in Jerusalem, at the Temple.

Significantly, it was at Passover that the Lord Jesus was crucified.  He was the ultimate Passover sacrifice–the ultimate substitute sacrifice.  It is especially appropriate to remember that this week as Easter looms near.  There is debate whether Christians are supposed to “keep” Passover or not (see 1 Corinthians 5:7-8), however at the very least I think it is highly appropriate to remember Passover, though not necessarily to “keep” it as the Jews do today.

Tonight Jews around the world will gather as families to celebrate this most special holiday.  There is no more sacrifice, but a special family meal will be held to remember what God has done for them.  Usually the meal will last many hours, until midnight.  There is an entire “ceremony” rich with symbolism to remind them of God’s miracle for them so long ago.  A book called a Haggadah (“telling”) guides the ceremony.  A plate with several foods represents different things.  On the plate is a bone reminding of the sacrificed animal; some fresh greens to represent life; some bitter herbs or horseradish to remind of the bitter tears of slavery; some sweet paste to represent the mortar of the bricks from their slave labor; some unleavened bread; and several cups of wine, each with a specific meaning.  After the ceremony, rich with symbolism and memory, is completed, the Hallels from the Psalms are sung.  It is a beautiful ceremony that reminds them of their debt to God.  Read more about the holiday ceremony {here}, {here}, {here}, {here}, {here}, and {here}.

Again, for us Christians today, I do not think we should celebrate the Passover as the Jews do today, for that Passover that they remember is not ours.  Our “Passover” revolves around the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I think it is most profitable to remember the Exodus story today, and to celebrate with our Jewish friends, but our thoughts should automatically shift toward our Lord.  This evening I challenge you to read the Passover story (Exodus 12, Deuteronomy 16:1-8), consider Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, bless the Lord in the Hallel Psalms (Pss. 113-118), and remember our Lord’s sacrifice of Himself for us!  It would be good for you to read up on the Jewish celebration of Pessach also so you can be more culturally literate (see above)!

There is a concise, highly useful guide book to Biblical sites in Israel posted at www.TheBibleStudent.info called Eretz Israel The Land of Jehovah and the Inheritance of Israel by Austen Dutton.

A final thought from David Baron gleaned from Israel in the Plan of God {here} about Israel’s future glorious restoration:

“Hodu la-[Adonai] ki tov, ki l’o'lam chas’do”–”O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good; for His mercy” (His “loving-kindness”) “endures forever.” (Ps. 106.1)

This short refrain, consisting of only seven words, and composed probably in the first instance by the sweet Psalmist of Israel himself [David], formed part of the daily service of praise which accompanied the divinely appointed ritual in the Temple, and in the 16th chapter of the First Book of Chronicles we read of certain Levites, whose chief duty it was to lead the people in the singing of it, and to see to its proper accompaniment by instrumental music.

Ancient Israel never tired of it.  Some of the Psalms have this short refrain as the chief burden of their song–as, for instance, the grand old One Hundredth [Ps. 100]….One Psalm–the 136th–the climax of the Great Hallel–has the refrain not only at the beginning and the end, but the second line…is repeated no fewer than twenty-six times.

During the seventy years’ captivity in Babylon all music ceased in Israel, for how could they sing Jehovah’s song ‘in a strange land’?  But no sooner did a remnant return, and the rebuilding of the House of God commence, than they took up the old refrain again, ‘And they sang one to another in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His lovingkindnedss endures forever toward Israel”‘ (Ezra 3.11).

Now again, during a much longer ‘captivity,’ and universal dispersion, the voice of true praise is silent in Israel.  But not for ever,  for ‘Thus says the Lord, “Yet again there shall be heard in this place whereof you say it is waste,…even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate,…the voice of joy and the voice of gladness,…the voice of them that say, ‘Give thanks to Jehovah of Hosts, for Jehovah is good, for His loving-kindness endures for ever’”‘ (Jer. 33.10-11).

So this refrain, “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His loving-kindness endures forever,” is something of a national anthem of Israel.  It was sung during their days of Jehovah-worship and faithfulness under David.  It became silent in their years of Babylonian captivity.  It was sung again when they returned to Israel from captivity under Ezra.  And now it has become silent again as modern Israel is dispersed and secularized, having forgotten their God.  But someday it will be sounded forth anew when God opens their hearts and eyes, and they are gloriously saved from their darkness by their Messiah!  And it will forevermore be their anthem as it so accurately sums up God’s dealings with them.

“O GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD, FOR HIS LOVING-KINDNESS ENDURES FOREVER!”

More thoughts from David Baron gleaned from Israel in the Plan of God {here} about Israel’s possession of her Land:

As sure, then, as God is true, this land of Canaan is the inalienable possession of the Jewish nation, whatever the Gentile world-powers may plan about it.  That is the reason why God has never permitted any other nation to get permanent hold of it.  Both in ancient and in modern times almost all the Great Powers of the world have striven and fought for it.  To quote words of mine from elsewhere, ‘It has been conquered in turn by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians.  Then it became the bone of contention between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids.  Since the new phase in the dispersion brought about by the rejection of Christ, many Gentile nations have sought to establish their dominion over it.  It has been occupied in turn by Romans, Persians, Saracens, Crusaders, Mamelukes, Tartars, and Turks; but none of them have been permitted to possess it for long.  The Turk has been permitted of God in more recent times [1925] to tread it down and desolate it, but he cannot be said to have possessed it.  Rather has he served, in God’s good providence, as the custodian to prevent others from taking possession of it, and as the unconscious guardian of the land until the lawful possessors of it should return.

What an interesting thought from this Jew turned believer written in 1925!  The Land of Israel belongs to God, and He has given it as an inheritance to the Jews forever.  But since they were expelled from their Land as punishment for their sins, God has allowed other Gentile nations to “occupy” Israel and act as unwitting guardians of it until Israel is brought back and can truly possess her Land after her glorious restoration.

These are more thoughts from David Baron gleaned from Israel in the Plan of God {here}:

…This, then, is how Jewish history ends: not in unbelief and apostasy, but in a glorious restoration, to be followed by a national conversion which will be as ‘life from the dead’ to the whole world.

Nothing drives homes the consciousness of sin so surely as contemplation of God’s loving-kindness.

Oh the terrible bias to evil and godlessness in our depraved human nature!  We are ever ’slow of heart to believe,’ and reluctant to obey God’s word, but ready ‘to make haste’ to forget His word and works, and to rush into evil!

…And it was an aggravation of their sin that they lusted after these things ‘in the wilderness‘ (see Ps. 106.14), for it showed how little their hearts were set on that Land of Promise to which they were being led.  There–in the land flowing with milk and honey–abundance of meat and corn and wine, and every other good thing, ,were promised them if they truly obeyed God’s voice and kept His word.  As to the wilderness, they were only intended to pass through it, and ought to have been satisfied with the supply of their barest necessities.  God, however, in His wisdom and goodness, provided for them even in the desert, not only in abundance, but also the most suitable food, considering the climate and the circumstances in which they found themselves.  But so little did they enter into God’s plan and purpose for them that they were for ever complaining because they could not have their favorite dainties in the wilderness, and even murmured at finding the desert ‘no place of seed, or of figs,  or of vines, or of pomengranates’–as if God had intended them to settle there!

Speaking of how Israel as a nation was to (and still will) bring blessing to all the nations:

…But the inclusion of Gentile believers within the bounds of promise and of covenant does not affect the purpose of God with the nation, nor does the Church displace Israel in the plan of God in relation to the other nations.  The mission of the Church is to evangelize the world with a view to the gathering in of individuals out of all nations to its fold, but it is reserved for restored and converted Israel as a nation to bring the nations to a knowledge of their glorious Messiah and King, and bring universal blessing to the world.

An article at JPost caught my eye today: “Smashing particles at super speeds, Israeli scientists want to see how universe was born”.  Unfortunately, the modern Israeli state has gone the way of the West and is vastly secular.  It believes evolution, just as the “enlightened” Western world.  It is very sad that they have forgotten “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Especially since this is their God who did that!  Pray for the restoration of the Jewish people!  Find the article on JPost {here}.

JPost has an article about Christians being targeted in Gaza with acts of violence and terrorism. Find the article {here}.

DEBKAfile is reporting that a US airstrike may be a possibility against Iran; Iran and Syria have signed a joint-military deal.

• DEBBAfile is reporting that the US may strike Iran for its sponsorship of terrorism in Iraq. Read the full article {here}.
• DEBKAfile is also reporting how Iran and Syria have signed an agreement wherein they join their missile command. Thus, Israel may have a four-front missile threat against them. Article is {here}
• At the same time as all this, President Ahmadinejad of Iran is quoted as saying on Monday that Israel will soon disappear from the map…” Article at Jpost {here}